Sexuality vs. sensuality: The multimodal construction of affective stance in Chinese ASMR performances*

Abstract Online communities have recently developed a novel genre of performance aimed at triggering Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR), a tingling sensation prompted by soft voices and other stimuli. In China, these performances were banned in 2018 due to a rise in sexually charged videos purporting to be ASMR. Through acoustic and content analysis, this study argues that, rather than ASMR being a vehicle for sexual content, conventional and sexual Chinese ASMR performances constitute two separate genres. While all performers index intimate affective stances, conventional ASMR performers construct the persona of a calm, gentle professional, while sexual performers evoke the childish, amateur camgirl and sajiao (“whining”) persona. These performances illustrate Chinese content creators’ juxtaposition of local and non‐local semiotic resources as they participate in transnational online communities. The phenomenon of ASMR also highlights the sensual nature of the voice and underscores the necessity of incorporating sensuality into theorizations of sociolinguistic meaning.